We dig deeper into the rumored schedule of Warner Bros’ ‘Justice League’ films

Yesterday was a long travel day for me, featuring an eleven-hour flight from London to Los Angeles, and the most memorable part of the day was when we touched down at LAX last night, turned on our phones, and saw that Nikki Finke had blown up the internet with a rumor about the schedule that Warner Bros. will be following for the next few years as they try to ramp up their own DC Films division with as many as seven films between now and 2017.

We'll know at Comic-Con if Nikki's report was right. Let's assume it is for the time being, and break down the plan that she laid out, film by film. It sounds extraordinarily ambitious by any standards, and I'm fascinated by the idea of three DC movies a year. Even Marvel must look at that and think, “Hey, slow your roll there, Warner.”

“Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice” (May 2016)

Preliminary shooting has begun, and the first reactions to images of Ben Affleck as Batman have been very positive. It's interesting that what began as a “Man Of Steel” sequel has changed so much during production that it's now viewed as an entirely different thing. One of the things that makes me a little skeptical of the proposed dates for all of these films is that it's going to be almost three years between “Man Of Steel” and this film. That's fine… take as long as it needs to get it right. But if they're seriously going to be releasing two other films the same year, they're going to have to get moving on them as soon as possible, and they should probably be heading into production now in order to give the filmmakers room to get things right.

There are a lot of moving parts to this film, and it's going to eventually be viewed as the cornerstone of this larger DC movie world if they pull it off. Gal Gadot will be in the movie to introduce Wonder Woman, Jesse Eisenberg will make his debut as Lex Luthor, and both Cyborg and The Flash are also rumored to be showing up in key roles. You would assume that if they're using this as the introduction for the entire larger franchise, then the next film in theaters would be another film that is part of the same world, but I'm not entirely sure that's the case.

“Shazam” (July 2016)

Seriously? Two months later, we're going to get a “Shazam” film? This one's been inching its way through the development process for a long time now, and it's taken on a lot of different shapes over the years. I remember reading a William Goldman draft years ago, and on the set of “Get Smart,” I had a long conversation with Dwayne Johnson about whether he'd make a better Shazam or Black Adam. He was really intent on being part of the series, and if Warner Bros. is on their game, they'll lock him down for one of those roles. Johnson was born to play a superhero, and he's got the exact right movie star charisma to turn this one into a major part of the larger puzzle. What I'm really curious about is whether they're going to embrace what I think really makes this stand apart, the notion that it's a kid who is wearing this amazing exterior, like a superhero take on “Big.” Johnson's not just gigantic. He's also a very sharp comic performer, and I feel like he would knock the mix of childlike innocence and superhero brute force out of the ballpark. Right now, though, no idea who else is involved in this one, which seems weird if it's coming out immediately after a film that's already shooting.

“Sandman” (Christmas 2016)

While this is, indeed, based on a DC title, I can't imagine they have any plans of trying to tie this into the bigger picture involving “Justice League.” Neil Gaiman's masterpiece has been confounding potential movie adaptations for as long as I've been writing about movies online. I still get the shivers when I think back on the nightmarishly bad draft that Bill Farmer wrote for Jon Peters. Part of the problem has traditionally been that Hollywood has a hard time getting their heads around the notion of a comic book film that is not also a superhero film. “Sandman” is more about mythology and human nature than it is about characters beating the hell out of each other. Joseph Gordon-Levitt strikes me as a smart and thoughtful guy, and with him set to produce, direct, and star in the film, this might finally be the moment where we see Morpheus, Lord of Dreams, brought to life. It all comes down to the script, which needs to be more literate, ambitious and beautiful than most of what's been done in adapting comics so far.

“Justice League” (May 2017)

This is the big one. This is the make or break moment for Warner's overall game plan. I can't see how Zack Snyder is supposed to turn around and have the single biggest superhero film the studio has ever attempted ready a mere year after he turns in “Batman Vs Superman,” which will take three years to make it to the screen. Even shooting back-to-back, there is a staggering amount of post-production required on these films, and for them to shoot this simultaneous or even back-to-back, the script's got to be ready to go right now. There's no indication that's the case, and that makes me nervous. Warner Bros. can't fumble this movie. If they do, they can kiss everything else goodbye. Marvel knew how essential “The Avengers” was to all of their plans, and they sweated every detail of that film right up to the moment of release. I'm not sure Snyder's ever taken on anything as big as “Superman Vs Batman” and “Justice League” back to back… in fact, I'm not sure anyone has. One would hope that Warner gives him the right support and doesn't just pressure him to make a release date.

“Wonder Woman” (July 2017)

See, here's where I'm just not seeing this. If Gal Gadot has a major role in both “Superman Vs Batman” and “Justice League,” when is she supposed to have time to star in an entirely different movie that would come out two months later? And who is going to be writing and directing? This is starting to feel like a freeway pile-up, with one movie crashing into another. The thing I'm having trouble with here is that I've read several great “Wonder Woman” scripts over the years that fully honored the character, her background, and the mythology from which she sprang, and every one of those scripts was rejected in the end by Warner Bros. My feeling is that they don't really get the character, and they're nervous about committing to something that is this far outside their comfort zone. Who knows? Maybe the success of the “Thor” films has finally convinced them to go for it, but even if that's true, having this ready by this alleged date seems next to impossible.

“Untitled Flash and Green Lantern team-up” (Christmas 2017)

One of the most difficult logistical issues of “The Avengers” was that there were so many schedules being juggled in order to keep the solo films rolling out as well, and that's definitely going to be true of “Justice League” as well. Are they really going to have three of the core members of the Justice League pulling double-duty? And if they are indeed bringing Green Lantern back, did they learn anything from the first film they made? They aped Marvel as hard as they could with that one, but it had no soul at all. It is going to take a lot to get the public to show back up for a new Green Lantern movie, and if this one's going to work, The Flash needs to be seriously charismatic as well. It's an odd combination to break these two guys off specifically, but if there's a good story that makes sense of the combination, I don't see any reason this one couldn't work.

“Man Of Steel 2” (May 2018)

So we're going to see Superman show up every May for three years in a row? I have no problem with that personally, since I loved “Man Of Steel,” but that seems like a whole lot of pressure to put on Henry Cavill, especially since Warner Bros. is also going to be kicking off the “Man From UNCLE” series with him next summer, and if it works, they're going to have to make room for him to make those as well, and it's starting to look like Cavill's not going to have any break at all for at least four or five years. Is Snyder going to direct this one as well? I certainly hope so, but if Warner burns him to the ground turning out the back-to-back “Superman Vs Batman” and “Justice League,” I have no idea how he's going to rally to turn out another film of this scale a mere year later.

Look, I'm not saying I don't believe that Finke talked to someone who gave her these details. She's no rookie, and she wouldn't run it if she weren't confident, but this is ambitious to a degree that seems almost suicidal. This is a heavier schedule than Marvel's ever tried, and at some point, it starts to look like they're flooding the marketplace out of desperation instead of confidence.

We'll be covering Comic-Con from top to bottom again this year, and I look forward to finding out if this is true, and if so, who they're going to announce as the creative teams driving some of these movies forward.

Make sure you join us for all the details when Comic-Con runs from July 24 to July 27.

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Maybe their plan is to screw it up for everybody and leave a scorched earth for superhero films. I want Justice League to succeed, but I feel like this is really going to test audiences and over saturate the market.

By: Mike

06.13.2014 @ 11:22 PM

So before these alleged dates this WB/DC was being lazy, now we have this and people still find a way to complain about it. Incredible

By: grseif7

06.14.2014 @ 12:52 AM

Yeah, I have to agree with Mike above. First everyone is like, why doesn’t Warner Brothers show confidence in there property. They’re so timid about it. Now we get a complete map, where they ARE showing confidence in there property, and people are like, how can they do this so fast, it’s so rushed, etc. MAKE UP YOUR MIND PEOPLE! Ridiculous!!!

By: Arrow

06.14.2014 @ 5:05 PM

@Mike & Grseif

Can we all agree that no one who asked for more confidence from WB was asking them to release 3 movies a year? This schedule is insane and the fact that they were timid before doesn’t change that.

By: Marty

06.13.2014 @ 11:30 PM

Don’t forget, Chris Nolan is a big part of Man of Steel – it wouldn’t surprise me if he got the directing gig on Justice League, and maybe another one of these films, too.

By: Spooky2k

06.13.2014 @ 11:37 PM

Not really. His name is on it and not much else. It was Goyer and Snyders baby.

By: Chad

06.13.2014 @ 11:50 PM

People need to stop mentioning Nolan everytime something comes up. His Batman films were average at best, and nothing like the character in the comics. He’s not some “savior” or a filmmaking god, and people need to move on because he’s said MANY times he is NOT interested.

By: Arrow

06.14.2014 @ 5:12 PM

Zach Snyder already got the directing gig on JL. Nolan might help with the story, like he did with Man of Steel, but not much else.

By: mridge1

06.15.2014 @ 9:49 PM

At one time, yes, Nolan was said to be “grandfathering” the DC films but it’s become pretty apparent, especially up to and after the release of ‘Man of Steel’ that Nolan not part of developing any of these films, especially being deep in post-production on ‘Instellar’. At this point, the DCU IS ran by Goyer, Snyder and execs at WB at this point.

By: Gil Brooks

06.13.2014 @ 11:36 PM

This list is totally fake. It’s assuming that WB/DC is doing what Marvel is doing, which they are not. They are doing something quite different, which is great. And it makes sense, seeing as they don’t have the time or $$$$ to pull off a bunch of interconnecting films that build to one movie.

By: Joshua

06.13.2014 @ 11:54 PM

All of this will be a complete success.

People just don’t care about narrative anymore; just put a bunch of moments together, slap on some pseudo-political/social metaphors, romanticize the US military, confirm the idea that more violence solves violence, make a trailer that conveys all this while making it feel epic, and you got yourself a huge opening weekend …that will considerably go down the next week (in America), and huge numbers from the global box office which you can use to claim the movie a hit.

People, who have and have not seen the film, will debate about it on line: “The movie is bad”, “No it isn’t, you just want what they did last time – which was bad”; “My kids liked it”; “I’m not going to see it”, “Then you can’t have an opinion about it”, “Yes I can!”, “No you can’t!”; “Its just a movie”; “Its too dark”, “No, its REALISTIC”; “It needs to be more realistic”; etc.

Film reviewers for well known publications will either hate them or give them a free pass. Film bloggers and writers for movie news sites will either like them or not like them, but, actively wish the studio and film makers well in any future sequels they make either way.

And I, will continue my grand scheme of revenge upon you all.

By: Guy Smiley

06.14.2014 @ 12:33 AM

And, in spite of your apparent distaste for it all, you’ll still feel the need to show up here and write a holier-than-thou screed about it.

By: Joshua

06.14.2014 @ 2:09 PM

But of course. If I didn’t how would you feel holier-than-me for supposedly feeling holier-than-thou?

You’re welcome.

By: CNU

06.14.2014 @ 1:12 AM

Can we trust the source though? Finke has burned a lot of bridges in life, does she still have any reliable sources left?

By: Christian

06.14.2014 @ 1:30 AM

If you followed the comics, you know that GL and Flash are the best of friends. So from a Comic Book Geek standpoint, a team-up film makes perfect sense.

Spot on re: Shazam. They need to embrace that aspect and lock the Rock down for the film, sequels, JLA movies, etc!

By: Guy Smiley

06.14.2014 @ 2:35 AM

I must be the only one who doesn’t think The Rock is a good actor. I hate his goofy grin, and I don’t think he has much range at all. He’s also made a lot of really, really bad movies.

A Captain Marvel/Shazam! movie could be good if handled with a lighter tone, but I don’t think Dwayne Johnson has any business being in it. Let him keep making GI Joe and stuff like that. That’s pretty much all he’s good for.

By: ScottA

06.14.2014 @ 1:43 AM

I think I read somewhere that this story was on a brand new website that just went live.

So… Let me get this straight. A brand new website, trying to get some publicity and get noticed, somehow by an amazing coincidence happens to get a scoop that everyone else on the internet would KILL to get.

R-R-I-I-I-I-G-G-H-T. Sure.

And said scoop by the way is a ridiculous, fan-boy wet dream of one-superhero-movie-after-another getting released so quickly that it makes absolutely no sense at all. (Drew, good job in poking massive holes in the supposed schedule!)

Or… more likely said website made up a bunch of crapola trying to get attention… which they did.

God, internet people are stupid.

By: Guy Smiley

06.14.2014 @ 2:29 AM

I think the list of films is at least partly bogus too, mostly because it’s too many films in too short a time, and some of them would have to already be in production to meet those dates.

BUT… The person who leaked this supposed scoop, Nikki Finke is not an unknown. Was this a great way to drum up interest in her new site? Sure. But she’s a known quantity, and she probably did get some kind of info from a legitimate source. Chances are it’s not 100% accurate, but I bet there’s at least some truth to the WB/DC plan.

Either way, we’ll find out at Comic Con.

By: Max

06.14.2014 @ 5:24 AM

Oh, this is going to be so deliciously disastrous! I cannot wait!

By: Chesterfield

06.14.2014 @ 9:37 AM

See, Drew, you have just layed out exactly why this all is probably bullcrap. I’m sure Nikki Finke is a true Hollywood insider with unimpeachable journalistic integrity, but this whole plan makes no goddamn sense. And when someone starts to pick it apart like you just did, it crumbles. If it turns out this is actually true, I will apologize to everyone involved, who obviously know a lot more about the goings-on than I do (I’m not kidding about that part, and it’s actually true anyway) and ask them: “Yeah, but why?”

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06.14.2014 @ 12:28 PM

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By: johnnyrocket

06.15.2014 @ 2:33 PM

Agreed, I’m a bit dubious of this time table considering (from start of principle photography to release date) it’s taking twice as long to make Dawn of Justice as it takes Whedon to shoot and post an Avengers movie. Without a series of books from JK Rowling to lay out the narrative for them, they don’t seem to have the Warner Machine firing on all cylinders with their hopes for “the next big franchise.” Speaking of hope, (oh boy, here it comes again) I admire your staunch support of Man of Steel. Lord knows I wanted to love it more than merely like it. But while your assumptions about where they take the story from here are probably accurate, I’m less optimistic in Snyder or Goyer’s ability to pull it off satisfactorily. And I’m concerned about the tone of these films in contrast to the tone Marvel set for theirs. The reason so many people walked out of MoS with a bad taste in their mouths was that they didn’t fulfill the theme of the story in the movie itself: which was both his father’s beliefs that he could be a beacon of hope. A theme Goyer hung the narrative on for the first 2/3’s of the movie. You might argue he’s a symbol of hope for saving the planet, but nothing in the denouement of the movie even hinted that was the world’s reaction to him.. Leaving the neck snapping incident aside for a moment, think about the last scene at The Planet and then compare it to the last moments in Avengers. Whedon had the press and public work through, or at least acknowledge, all the reactions and questions the world would have about an alien invasion and what might come next. Then Fury capped it off on a hopeful note. Goyer and Snyder could have easily accomplished the same thing with Perry, the Planet staff and then the conversation with the General. Instead we got ZERO acknowledgment of what everyone had just been through while Lombard hits on Lois and the general’s aid “Thinks he’s kind of hot.” To end on an almost flippant note after the entire movie and script (not to mention a set design and cinematography that was muted and devoid of bright colors) was entirely incongruous with the weight and tone the rest of the movie. Just my two cents. :)

By: Nathans

06.16.2014 @ 3:11 AM

This can’t be real. The shooting schedule and special effects schedule would be ridiculously tight. But no Batman movie? Come on. I could maybe see doing a Green Lantern or Flash movie before a Batman movie, but Shazam and Wonder Woman? And no mention of a Batman movie?

I know the Christopher Nolan trilogy is still kind of recent memory. But even so, that still seems inconsequential when compared to the name recognition and potential merchandise you’d get off a Batman movie. And they’re altering their approach to the character so much to differentiate it from Nolan’s Batman–people would be excited to check it out and see how it compares.